Miles Naismith Vorkosigan
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan was a military officer, space mercenary, and Imperial Auditor in the service of Barrayaran Emperor Gregor Vorbarra. He was the son of Emperor Gregor's regent, Admiral Aral Vorkosigan, and the grandson of famous Barrayaran general Piotr Vorkosigan. His mother was Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, a Betan Expeditionary Force Captain. Biography Traumatic birth Miles Naismith Vorkosigan was the son of Lord Aral Vorkosigan and his Betan wife Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, and was concieved shortly after their hurried marriage. While his mother was pregnant, she inhaled the poison gas soltoxin during an unsuccessful assassination attempt on her husband. She was administered the antidote to save her life, but the treatment destroyed her fetus's skeletal development.Barrayar Lady Vorkosigan insisted on experimental treatment to save her son's life. He was born at five months gestation by Cesarean section, nearly killing his mother in the process, and transferred to a uterine replicator.Barrayar While the infant was initially intended to be named Piotr Miles Vorkosigan, his grandfather Count Piotr Pierre Vorkosigan refused to allow the use of his name once it became clear the boy would be deformed. Count Piotr attempted to kill young Miles twice. Midway through the in vitro treatments, the uterine replicator containing Miles was kidnapped by Count Vidal Vordarian as part of an usurpation plot against the Emperor of Barrayar. The fetal Miles Vorkosigan was rescued from Vordarian's custody by his mother in a commando raid that also led to the death of Vordarian himself and the collapse of Vordarian's Pretendership. After ten months gestation, the treatments were as complete as possible, and Miles Vorkosigan was removed from the replicator. Childhood Miles's bones remained extremely fragile. He spent a year in a spinal brace, and was unable to walk until age four. Despite repeated corrective surgeries, his height only reached four-foot-nine at maturity, and even that was against medical advice.The Vor Game As a young child, Miles was attended and defended by his armsman and constant bodyguard, Sergeant Konstantine Bothari. At age five, his grandfather finally reconciled with the rest of the family. Count Piotr taught Miles how to ride, and trained a horse named Fat Ninny for his personal use.The Mountains of Mourning Young Miles competed in gymkhana events on horseback, winning prizes.Mirror Dance Around age thirteen, he was in the Imperial Junior Scouts with his cousin Ivan Vorpatril.Komarr Growing up, Miles attempted suicide several times as a teenager, including one time only his bodyguard Bothari knew about following a failed relationship. Miles was also prone to suicidally adventurous behavior, such as riding a wild, untamed horse after being rejected by a group of children. Even as a child, however, Miles adapted by becoming a "manipulator par excellence" despite (or because of) his physical shortcomings. Miles was capable of bullying his cousin Ivan, or forcing the Koudelka girls to perform military marches. Often, Miles would lead his followers into disastrous situations, such as accidentally getting himself and Ivan trapped in a cave-in in a tunnel Miles wanted to explore.Cetaganda Youth At the age of seventeen, Miles Vorkosigan failed the physical exam to enter the Barrayaran Imperial Service as an officer. Soon afterwards, he traveled to his mother's homeworld of Beta Colony to search for his foster sister Elena Bothari's parents. Dodging his bodyguard in a Betan shuttleport, he encountered down-on-his-luck jump pilot Arde Mayhew and decided to buy his ship and take up cargo-running. He found Baz Jesek, a Barrayaran officer who had deserted, in a Betan junkyard, and similarly recruited him.The Warrior's Apprentice. Miles took a contract from Major Daum of Felice to smuggle an illegal cargo into Tau Verde IV. After encountering difficulties, he improvised a force called the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet into existence. The Dendarii later gained official status as a covert operations arm of the Barrayaran military, and Miles carries out "over thirty" missions as their commander over the course of the series. While in command of the Dendarii, he assumes the persona of "Admiral Naismith", speaking with a Betan accent. Naismith is believed by some to be a clone of Miles Vorkosigan, created by Cetagandan agents as part of a plot against Barrayar, a backstory for the character improvised by Miles during their adventure on Earth. During this adventure, the twenty-four year old Miles' life becomes more complicated when he discovers that he has an actual clone, created by Komarran terrorists with the intent of killing Miles and his family and ultimately becoming Emperor of Barrayar. His friends urge him to kill the clone, but due to the Betan influence on his upbringing Miles thinks of the clone as his brother and lets him go free. Four years later, Miles is killed while trying to rescue his clone-brother, and although he is successfully cryo-frozen and revived, he is left with a condition which causes periodic epileptic-like seizures, particularly under great stress. He tries to conceal this from Simon Illyan, his boss and chief of Imperial Security. Miles falsifies a report after he has a seizure in combat, but this is detected and he is fired from ImpSec, putting an end to his life with the Dendarii. Almost immediately, he becomes suspicious of a plot against Illyan who has fallen ill and is being kept isolated; he requests the assignment of an Imperial Auditor to help him investigate the situation, but instead, the Emperor surprises him by making him the "Ninth Auditor", a temporary designation by tradition, but nonetheless endowed with full Auditor powers. His handling and solving of the case is reviewed by the other Auditors and his status as Auditor is made permanent. Mid life - 30s on Shortly thereafter, he accompanies one of his new colleagues, Lord Auditor Vorthys, to Komarr, home to the sole wormhole connecting Barrayar to the rest of the Nexus. (Barrayar conquered Komarr some years before Miles' birth in order to gain control of that vital access). Their mission is to investigate an accident involving the solar energy array orbiting Komarr; the accident turns out to have been caused by the secret testing of a new weapon with which Komarran conspirators hope to permanently destroy Barrayar's access to the wormhole. Miles is quartered with Lord Auditor Vorthys' niece and her husband, a Barrayaran official. In the course of the investigation, Miles survives yet another brush with death although his host, who has become ensnared in the plot, does not survive. To make a bad situation worse, Miles has fallen in love with his host's wife, Ekaterin Vorsoisson, who just happens to be on the verge of leaving her emotionally abusive husband when disaster strikes. She is then instrumental in foiling the plot. The entire affair is classified as secret due both to the political nature of the conspiracy and the new technology of the Komarran secret weapon. Ekaterin, now professing to be violently allergic to marriage, moves back to Barrayar with her nine-year-old son, Nikolai, to stay with her uncle, Lord Auditor Vorthys. Miles embarks upon a bizarre, if typically complicated, strategy: he will woo Ekaterin without telling her, in the hope that she can be persuaded to reconsider her stance. Miles is hoist upon his own petard during a particularly disastrous dinner party to which Ekaterin is invited. She is initially furious when she discovers his machinations. An additional complication arises when rumors accuse Miles of murdering her husband in order to marry her. Due to the Imperial security concerns, she is not at liberty to refute the allegations, even when her relations attempt to move her son to "safety". This provokes her to drastic action: she proposes to Miles herself in a most public fashion; he accepts without hesitation. They are married during the mid-winter festival that marks the beginning of a new year on Barrayar, and survive yet another attack in which Ekaterin is poisoned by one of Miles' Auditorial victims. The plot is foiled by Taura, one of his many former girl-friends, and Roic, one of his Armsmen. Their honeymoon is delayed by a considerable period, during which they conceive twins in uterine replicators; while this is by now normal for well-to-do Barrayaran couples, it also conveniently allows the happy couple to leave the planet while their unborn children remain safely at home. On their voyage home, Emperor Gregor dispatched his youngest Auditor to defuse a diplomatic crisis at a Quaddie space station. The couple becomes embroiled in yet another deadly, complicated situation involving potential war with the Cetagandans. Happily, Miles survives a near-death illness caused by exposure to a Cetagandan biological weapon, and they are able to return to Barrayar just in time for their children's birth -- a son named Aral Alexander and a daughter named Helen Natalia. During Cryoburn, Miles was instructed by Gregor through the urgings of Laisa to investigate Whitecrys, a cryopreservation corporation, which had plans to expand its services in Komarr. Miles became embroiled in a coverup and fraud. At the conclusion of his investigation, he was informed by Colonel Vorventa that his father had passed away. Thus, Miles finally inherited the district countship as Count Miles Vorkosigan. At this point, Miles' full title is Lord Auditor Captain Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, reigning district count to the Vorkosigan District as Count Vorkosigan, or possibly Lord Auditor Captain Count Vorkosigan. It is traditional for retired and discharged soldiers to retain their rank as a title. Additionally, the position of Imperial Auditor seems to attach a Lord at the beginning of the title, regardless of the title owners actual district status. Personality and traits Miles was both brilliant (especially in military tactics) and hyperactive; one of his girlfriends describes him as "addicted to adrenaline rushes." He compulsively and constantly challenges the world in spite of (or because of) his stature: sometimes with disastrous consequences, although more often his mind overcomes his physical weakness. He has an ambiguous status on his home planet, being simultaneously a pampered and powerful aristocrat and a despised "mutie". At times he contemplates running away from Barrayar and its prejudice against disabled people, but he never acts on this impulse, perhaps because of his loyalty to his family and his Vor code of honour. He has a strong tendency to manipulate people and is very good at bluffing. The Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet began as pure imaginative figment, and through frantic improvisation he conceals his deception from his erstwhile recruits; their accomplishments make real his invention. With the early success of this "lie first, fix it later" strategy, he does not become fully aware of its ethically dubious nature until over a decade later, when (finally) it blows up in his face: first he is caught lying about his seizure disorder, and then the widow he loves is enraged when she discovers that he has been attempting to court her by stealth during her socially-recognized period of mourning. After his retirement, Miles lived the (relatively) calmer life of Imperial Auditor, a sort of cross between special investigator and special prosecutor, for the growing Barrayaran empire. He is also preparing to settle down and raise a family. Admiral Naismith Admiral Naismith is Miles' former covert ops alter ego, the Betan commander of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, which dominated his life from age 17 to 30. Barrayaran titles, ranks, and styles :Until the death of Piotr Vorkosigan: Lord Miles Vorkosigan; Lord Miles :Until admittance into the Imperial Service Academy: Lord Vorkosigan :Until Academy graduation: Cadet Vorkosigan; Lord Vorkosigan :As Ensign: Ensign Vorkosigan; Lord Vorkosigan :As Lieutenant: Lieutenant Lord Vorkosigan; Lord Vorkosigan :After discharge: Lord Vorkosigan :As Imperial Auditor: Imperial Auditor Lord Vorkosigan; Lord Auditor Vorkosigan; Lord Vorkosigan :Current: Count Vorkosigan, Imperial Auditor Count Vorkosigan Notes Miles' name is Latin for "soldier". Bujold admitted that the connection was accidental but relevant.Young Miles, Author's Notes Appearances *''Barrayar'' *''The Warrior's Apprentice'' *"The Mountains of Mourning" *''The Vor Game'' *''Cetaganda'' *''Ethan of Athos'' *"Labyrinth" *"The Borders of Infinity" *''Brothers in Arms'' *''Borders of Infinity'' *''Mirror Dance'' *''Memory'' *''Komarr'' *''A Civil Campaign'' *"Winterfair Gifts" *''Diplomatic Immunity'' Notes and references External links * Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Miles Category:District Counts